Choose the right clothes to wear, and choose tall trees to nest in.

- Manchu proverb

In 1265, Galemang and Ahmang led 170 families of the Salur tribe to bid farewell to Samarkand with a white camel carrying the scriptures and the soil of their homeland, and went east to find a new paradise in the hearts of the Salur people.

They crossed the Trans-Ili Mountains, walked out of the borders of the Khorezm Empire, and entered the already extinct Kara-Khitan (Western Liao) territory.

The vast steppe, where the wind blows the grass and sees cattle and sheep, has now become the grass kulun of the Great Mongolia. Groups of elated Mongolians sing melodious long tunes and leisurely graze cattle and sheep.

Hassan looked at them jealously, longing for a peaceful homeland for the Salur people.

They crossed the majestic Tianshan Mountains without stopping, entered the beautiful Ili River Valley in present-day Xinjiang, and then passed through the North Tianshan Road, Gaochang (today's Turpan in Xinjiang) and Yizhou (today's Hami in Xinjiang), where they met many Gaochang Uygurs. The Uygurs here are Muslim and look closer to the Khitans and Mongols. Their language is very close to that of the Salurians and they can converse with each other.

Hassan and other Salul people visited the homes of the Ghochang Vigurs and visited their villages, where they found their courtyards and houses very similar to those in Samarkand. There are also many qanats and vineyards like those in Khorezm, as well as some dilapidated Buddhist and Manichaean buildings that have not been used for a long time.

They bid farewell to the Gaochang Weigurs, walked out of the vast territory of the Karakhitan, and entered the Hexi Corridor controlled by the Mongols. It is inhabited by a large number of Han Chinese, Tang Vuls, Salivygur (today's Yugur) and Muslim Hui people. They have a clear division of labor and complement each other. The Han Chinese mainly cultivated farmland. The Tangvuls and Saari Uguls grazed cattle and sheep. The Hui were engaged in commercial trade.

They passed through the cities of Suzhou (today's Jiuquan, Gansu), Ganzhou (today's Zhangye, Gansu) and Liangzhou (today's Wuwei, Gansu), which had a strong Han and Tang style in the Central Plains, but still did not find a place similar to the water and soil of their hometown.

Due to the lack of adaptation, many people began to have diarrhea and scabies. There was a pessimistic atmosphere in the barracks.

Hassan looked down and counted that it had been 17 months since they left Samarkand. He was also a little discouraged, and said listlessly to Garemang: "My lord, I am afraid that at the end of the world, there will be no home for us Salur people. ”

Gale is reckless but optimistic. Standing on a high slope, he cried out to his dusty people, "Under the heavens, there will be a home for our Salulians." As long as we all work hard, the dawn of victory lies ahead. Hold on, brave Salurians! ”

Therefore, Hassan led a vanguard team to open the way in front of him, and tried to let everyone walk along the area with abundant water and grass and fertile land, so as to reduce unnecessary losses. In this way, they continued to the northeast, reaching the present-day Ningxia Plain.

Seeing that this place was flat and full of crops, it was very suitable for human habitation, and he guessed that this might be the paradise of the Salur people. He ordered the Salur tribe to rest here for the time being.

Hassan compared the soil and water of his hometown with that of his native cloth and found that the two were roughly similar, but there were still some differences.

At this moment, a Mongolian officer stationed in Ningxia led a team to meet him. He read the letter of introduction from the highest governor of Samarkand, warmly received the Salurians who had come from afar, and quickly reported their situation to the Mongol Great Khan.

When the Mongol Great Khan Kublai Khan heard that someone had come from afar to take refuge in him, he was very happy and readily agreed to formally integrate the Salurs into the Tanma Red Army in addition to the regular Mongol army, and at the same time appointed the head Gale Mang as the hereditary Daru Huachi (who held the power of local administration and military facts, and was the highest governor at all levels) in Jishi Prefecture, the old land of the Jin State occupied by the Mongol army, and the hereditary hundred households and deputy thousand households, to exercise jurisdiction there on behalf of the Great Yuan Empire.

The Mongol officers provided Gale Mang with some daily necessities and weapons, and ordered them to go to the border of Jishi Prefecture immediately.

Located at the junction of today's Gansu and Qinghai provinces, Jishi Prefecture is the confluence of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Loess Plateau, the clear Yellow River crosses, the Lazhi Mountains extend from northeast to southwest, the mountains are high and deep, the flat land is scarce, and the Tubo people mainly live, as well as a small number of Han and Sarta people.

Because it is located at the key point of the Silk Road and the Tangbo Ancient Road, and is the gateway between Gansu and Qinghai, Jishi Prefecture has become a very important military pass. Historically, the drums of war have been frequent, and the beacons have been constantly fired. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin Kingdom, the Tang Dynasty (Western Xia) and the Mongols fought fierce bloody battles one after another for the Jishi Prefecture.

In 1182, the Jin State promoted the Jishi Army, and the seat of governance was on the south bank of the Yellow River, 10 miles west of Guide County, Qinghai Province, and its jurisdiction was equivalent to Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, Jianzha County, Guide County, Tongren County in Qinghai Province and Linxia Prefecture and Xiahe County in Gansu Province.

During the reign of the Tang Dynasty, the administrative office was moved to Jishi Town (today's Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, Qinghai).

In 1253, in order to stabilize Tibet, the Great Mongolian State set up the Marshal of Tubo Xuanwei Sidu in Hezhou (now Linxia, Gansu Province) bordering Han and Tibet to manage the affairs of Tubo on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. At that time, both Hezhou and Jishi Prefecture were subordinate to the Marshal Mansion of the Tubo Xuanwei Sidu.

As a result, Gale Mang was instructed to lead the Salur people in a southeasterly direction, reaching Qinzhou (present-day Tianshui, Gansu Province) and then turning back westward, first to Fuqiang (present-day Gangu, Gansu Province), then to Taozhou (present-day Lintan, Gansu Province) and Heicuo (present-day Gansu Province), where the Tibetans lived, and finally to Ganjiatan in Xiahe County, where he rested for a few days.

After Galemang and Ahmang left Samarkand with their people, 45 Salulites followed them. These people are taking a different, more difficult path. They passed through the arid and hot southern Tianshan Road, crossed the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, passed through the famous hometown of Loulan, an ancient country in the Western Regions, entered the western part of today's Qinghai Province, and then walked eastward along the south bank of Qinghai Lake to the area inhabited by the Tubo people.

They first arrived at Guide Prefecture (present-day Guide County in Qinghai and its vicinity), then took Jianzha Beach (present-day Jianzha County, Qinghai), and then returned to Yuanzhugou in Guide after arriving at Longche (today's Longwu) in Tongren (present-day Tongren County, Qinghai).

At this time, everyone was really tired after a long journey, and 12 of them refused to go any further, so they stayed here and lived together with the local indigenous Tubo people. These people later multiplied into the 12 ethnic groups of Yuanzhugou, and their customs and habits completely followed the Tubo people.

The remaining 33 men gritted their teeth and continued to move eastward, finally meeting the brigade led by Gale Mang at Ganjiatan.

After more than a year of separation, the flesh and blood compatriots met in a foreign country, and their hearts were naturally bittersweet and salty, and they were full of emotion. They rested for a while, and then led the white camel from Ganjiatan to the northwest, passed through the Xichang (Xichang) ditch, climbed over Mengda Mountain, and entered the territory of today's Xunhua County.

At this time, the sun in the west gradually went down, and the color of the sky changed from ten thousand red clouds to black ink.

The young man who led the camel, Ishei, went to the bushes to relieve himself.

The white camel walked down the road and disappeared into the night.

When Ishei returned, he found that the camel was gone, and he was so anxious that he began to weep aloud.

When Gale Mang learned of the situation, he ordered Hassan to gather a few young men quickly, light four or five torches, and go to the mountain ridge to look for the camel. The hillside was later named Otbenach, which means slope of fire in the Salur language.

Garemang and Hassan called out loudly in the night, looking for white camels carrying scriptures and the water and soil of their homeland. When they arrived at the east of today's Xunhua County Jiezi Town, the east was white, and the sky and the earth gradually became clearer. Therefore, Shazipo is also called Tangguti by later generations, and Salur means dawn.

Gale Mang, Hassan and others stood on the high slope, looked down at the slope, and saw a rich and beautiful place under the undulating La Ridge Mountain: the terrain was flat, the Yellow River was meandering, the Qianmo was vertical and horizontal, and the grass was green.

Gale excitedly stroked his thick beard and thought: This place is rich in water and plants, and the land is fertile, but it is a fascinating cornucopia.

He decided to lead the group down the hill to see the details of the land.

Hassan, who was running at the front, unexpectedly found a crystal clear spring water, in which the lost white camel lay peacefully. He shouted loudly with joy: "Lord Galemang, the white camel has been found!" ”

Everyone gathered around in surprise, and sure enough, they saw white camels lying on top of the spring and meadow.

Ishei hurriedly ran forward, and as he took the reins of the camel, he gently patted the camel with a stick, urging it to hurry up.

Unexpectedly, the moment the stick fell, the camel turned into a huge white stone. Between the two humps of the stone camel are still covered with cloth containing scriptures and the water and soil of the homeland.

Seeing this, Gareng excitedly said to everyone: "Doth (brothers), our white camels have been petrified. It was under the guidance of the gods that brought us here. Hassan, you quickly take out the water and soil of your hometown and compare it carefully with the water and soil here. ”

Hassan stepped forward to remove the blanket from the white stone camel's back, took out the water and soil in the clay pot, and grabbed a handful of dirt on the ground, and carefully compared it, and found that the color, thickness and quality of the soil were exactly the same in both places.

Hassan immediately reported the results of the comparison to Galemang.

Gale loudly announced to everyone, "This is it! This is it! This is the place we have been looking for! ”

"Ah, this is our new home!" The men, women, and children of Salur, who had endured many hardships and dangers, were overjoyed and cheered loudly.

Gale Mang then instructed the men to set up a simple tent near the spring, arranged for the women to gather dry firewood and grass, and then put a pot of cool spring water, lit a blazing fire, and boiled tea for everyone.

Around the warm fire, the Salurians drank the tea as delicious and sweet as the water of their homeland, and settled down in the street contentedly, forming a village of the Salul people. They called that spring a camel spring.

The Mongol troops stationed in Jishi Prefecture quickly came to the street when they heard the news. The Supreme Governor held a solemn and enthusiastic handover ceremony here. He solemnly handed over an official seal carved from Hetian white jade to Gale Mang, officially transferring the jurisdiction of Jishi Prefecture to him. The Mongol officers also carefully inquired about the living conditions of the Salur people, allocated them some fodder, horses, and silver, and then led their troops to Zhejiang and other places to crusade against the Southern Song Dynasty.

From then on, the mission of these Salur people was to reclaim the frontier, and the soldiers of the brave and warlike Mongol army were on horseback, and the border people of the Great Mongolian State who gathered and shepherded on their horses. Gale Mang was in charge of the overall work as Daru Huachi, and Ah Hemang assisted his brother in managing daily miscellaneous affairs. Hassan assisted Gareng in managing military affairs.

The Mongols referred to themselves as Salurs, and classified them as relatively high-ranking Semu people (i.e., eyes of a color other than black) and were treated better than the Han Chinese.

The Han Chinese have always referred to all ethnic groups from the West as Muslims. In order to further distinguish, the Han people also referred to the Salur people as the Salur Hui, which still belonged to the general category of the Hui people.

In order to facilitate the worship of the parishioners and the assembly of the tribe, Gareng led the able-bodied men of the tribe to build a simple mosque by the camel spring, named the Gar Mesiti (Salur language, black mosque), and stored the precious hand-copied scriptures brought from his hometown in a wooden cabinet in the temple and carefully treasured it.

On a glorious morning, Gareng led all the Salur people to stand on the red soil slopes and pray reverently in the direction of their homeland.

After praying, Gareng raised his arms and shouted: "All our people should cheer up and work hard to build a beautiful new homeland for the Salurians on the land of the East." ”